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Monday, October 8, 2012

Illusion

***I must preface this blog post with this: This is NOT a post of judgement. It is simply what God put on my heart this early Monday morning to share with others.***

Facebook is the ultimate play land to play out whatever life you choose. It is also the ultimate place to hide who you truly are or to completely (and sometimes to an extreme) reveal your true self.

As I was on Facebook this morning, most of my friends were still posting about what God did yesterday at church or what God did for them or to them at UPCI General Conference. Awesome things happened for many people, myself included. And the first thing that popped into my mind was the old saying, "actions speak louder than words". With the development of social media we have a unique tool not given to generations before us, that we can reach hundreds, if not thousands of people with our words without ever leaving our homes or even getting out of our pj's. It is so very easy to talk about what God did, spoke or miraculously produced, but talk is cheap. Right? Some of my friends on Facebook never and I mean never post a status update. They are on there to say Happy Birthday to friends far and near and look at pictures and possibly chat with a friend, but you never see a status of what's going on in their life. And that's okay, nothing wrong with that. Other friends are on Facbook just here and there, maybe connecting with a group (like I do with the homeschool group and church group) and to just share snippets of their lives. Others, like myself, have business pages or church pages to keep people up-to-date on all the wonderful news. For others though, Facebook is a place to play out every single detail of their lives, from what they ate for breakfast to who they hate and love. We all read every snarky comment or every phrase of praise that is plastered to their wall, and often it's within the same hour. We read how some people have been lazy all day and how some have apparently not only cleaned their entire home but the homes of all their neighbors too. I am being somewhat facetious, but you know what I mean. Their entire life is played out on Facebook and/or Twitter for all the world to see. I call them fish bowl Facebookers. We seemingly know all that they do, believe, pray, dream of, what team they root for, their cosmic cleaning abilities, favorite books, food, TV shows, music and the list just goes on and on. The problem with Facebook is this, we can post whatever we want and for some this is a golden opportunity to create themselves to others the way they wish they could be and not they way they truly are. It's a chance to be okay when we are really depressed, the opportunity to be an on fire prayer warrior when really our faith is wavering, a soul winner with Kingdom on the mind when really we haven't talked to a person about God in a very long time. On Facebook you can be the busiest person according to your status updates when really all you did was read statuses all day. On Facebook you can be a gourmet chef everyday of your life, when really you had take out. On Facebook you can be the most spiritual person ever, when in actuality you haven't had a real conversation with God in days or weeks or well, maybe longer.

I believe we can read a Biblical account similar to what I just typed out, found in Matthew 23. Whew! You all should read that whole chapter (I did. Good stuff people, good stuff), Jesus got all over those Pharisee's for their hypocritical lifestyle. Here is a small snippet of Matthew 23:

Then Jesus said to the crowds and to his disciples,“The scribes and the Pharisees teach with Moses’ authority.So be careful to do everything they tell you. But don’t follow their example, because they don’t practice what they preach.They make loads that are hard to carry and lay them on the shoulders of the people. However, they are not willing to lift a finger to move them."

What am I saying? Yes, it is possible to be a hypocrite by way of social media. The Pharisee's had authority to speak into the lives of those around them. Jesus said to, "do what they tell you, but DON'T follow their example." Basically, follow the teachings because that is God's way, the Torah, but do not act like them because they do not practice what they preach. Listen to God's word, but also act out God's word. It's powerful to me that Jesus spoke of the burden these leaders placed on the people but they themselves would not carry such a load. It's not unlike those that tell others to be faithful when they themselves are not. It's not unlike those who want to invite people to church but then don't want to help transport them there or be available to help disciple them. If we say we are Kingdom minded then our actions will bear out the fruit of those words, just like if you say you have cleaned your house for twelve hours straight you should have no problem if I just "drop by". It all comes back to our actions preaching, teaching, speaking louder than our words or statuses ever will.

Eventually you will leave your house (hopefully anyway) and the true fish tank will be revealed. Will the world, your friends, your church family see what you posted as who you are or will they see another Pharisee, a lot of words and no actions backing them up. This is the thing about fish tanks that is so beautiful, they are a creation of their owner, each tank unique. What the owner chooses to put in the tank is what we see.

Who is creating your fish tank life? Is the master Creator putting things in you that we can see and believe and trust and follow? Or are you creating a fish tank life you want every one to believe is real but once exposed for viewing is just. . . . . .fake?

***I must also this is post was created because of what God laid on my heart to share, not because people were sharing their Sunday or General Conference experiences. I love reading what God did in churches and lives on Sunday and special conferences. It just happened to coincide. The topic was formed a couple of weeks ago and this morning God reminded me that actions speak louder than words (and that was the piece I needed for this post) and what we say and committed unto God, even though it's Monday and we aren't surrounded by like minded people, we must follow through unto Him. God reminded me that it's easy to say we are going to do this or that when we are in the flow of His presence but it must be carried out every day life. I am also not saying that is bad to post about your team, books, etc.***

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